The National Library of Medicine, in cooperation with the National Museum of American History, is pleased to present the traveling exhibition, From DNA to Beer: Harnessing Nature in Medicine and Industry. On view at Scott Memorial Library from January 19th to February 28th, the exhibition explores some of the processes, problems, and potentials inherent in technologies that use life.

Microbes—tiny organisms too small to be seen with the naked eye—have altered human history. Life forms such as bacteria, yeasts, and molds can cause sickness or restore health, and help produce foods and beverages for our consumption. Scientists, in partnership with industry, have developed techniques to harness the powers of these microbes. In recent years, headline-grabbing technologies have used genetically modified bacteria to manufacture new medicines. Drawing from the collections of the National Museum of American History and the National Library of Medicine, From DNA to Beer will help to promote public understanding of the dynamic relationship between microbes, technology, and science and medicine.

The six-banner traveling exhibition presents these case studies of major scientific and medical accomplishments in the fields of biotechnology while showcasing the union with industry in how to best market and produce such discoveries to the public at large.

This exhibition was produced by the National Library of Medicine, and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

Is “write more” one of your New Year’s resolutions? Are you paralyzed by the amount of work needed to publish your research? Are half-finished manuscripts gathering dust on your desk? The Writing Café at Scott Memorial Library provides two chances every week to prioritize your writing: Tuesdays from 8:00 am to 10:00 am and Fridays from 7:00 am to 9:00 am (both sessions in Room 200A, Scott Library). Put them on your calendar, start showing up, and watch your writing projects flourish.

The Kickoff Session will be Tuesday, February 3, 2015 at 8:00 am in Room 200A, Scott.
Join us for coffee, tea and pastries to learn more about the Writing Café.

In July 2014 we retired the JEFFLINE name and adopted a new look that reflects the redesigned Jefferson website. Since then we have been gradually streamlining and updating our content to improve access to the Library’s resources. The latest version includes a revised About the Library page (and button) and a change in a couple of our main headings (Collections is now Find and Services is now Borrow). See this annotated screenshot.

With the launch of the Center for Teaching and Learning (which replaced AISR), JEFFLINE content related to instructional design, educational technologies, and media services was migrated to a new CTL site within the Thomas Jefferson University site:

We are excited to share a new resource made available by our new bookstore operator, Follett. Beginning in January 2015, students will be able to order books and related course materials that you have selected for use in your course. For this semester, Follett will be using the course material requests you’ve already sent to the Bookstore. For the Fall 2015 semester, you will be able to use this convenient tool to select your textbooks and any other related course resources you want to include. In January we will send out additional information on available workshops to learn how to use Follett Faculty Discover.

Follett Faculty Discover is the new research and adoption resource that replaces your former Online Adoption Tool.

NCBI announced that “PubMed Central (PMC) has added a citation exporter feature, which makes it easy to retrieve either styled citations that you can copy/paste into your manuscripts, or to download them into a format compatible with your bibliographic reference manager software.”

Local author, Pam Jenoff, is the sister of Jay Jenoff, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Division of Acute Care Surgery, at Jefferson. We are thrilled to have Ms. Jenoff discuss her book, The Winter Guest, at our January book club meeting. Ms. Jenoff is a bestselling author of several historical novels.

The Winter Guest“Life is a constant struggle for the eighteen-year-old Nowak twins as they raise their three younger siblings in rural Poland under the shadow of the Nazi occupation. The constant threat of arrest has made everyone in their village a spy, and turned neighbor against neighbor. Though rugged, independent Helena and pretty, gentle Ruth couldn’t be more different, they are staunch allies in protecting their family from the threats the war brings closer to their doorstep with each passing day. Then Helena discovers an American paratrooper stranded outside their small mountain village…”

Join your colleagues for the next Jefferson Book Club discussion on Thursday, January 8th from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm in Room 505 Hamilton. Lunch will be provided.

All students, faculty, and staff welcome. Join the book club to receive future announcements and to vote on what we read next. Copies of the book are available for sale at the Jefferson Book Store and for loan at Scott Memorial Library.

Does studying for exams have you stressed out?

Come and meet a therapy dog at Scott Library on Wednesday, December 17th from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm in Room 200A.

Drop in for some canine comfort! You’ll be surprised how much better you feel after a hug or a puppy kiss. Pet therapy lowers blood pressure, releases endorphins that have a calming effect, lifts spirits, and lowers anxiety.

Jefferson is teaming up with Philadelphia Self-Help and Resource Exchange (SHARE) to provide healthy meals for city residents who rely on food pantries. Drop off healthy non-perishable foods (see suggestions) from December 5th to December 17th:

RxClass is a new application that allows users to search and browse drug classes and their RxNorm drug members through a simple web interface by searching through five sources of drug-class information.

The cover of the November 19, 2014 JAMA theme issue on cardiovascular disease features a paper heart model anyone can put together. Grab a pair of scissors, some tape, and the printout, and follow the directions to create your own anatomical heart model.